| Listen to the Earth |
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| Written by Jason Engel | |||
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In this story, reported by Reuters, our Holy Father is quoted several times urging us to pay attention to our environment and heed its so called, warnings. He even offers a certain amount of merit to the 'Theory Of Evolution' and the science behind it. Some may consider this as Pope Benedict bending to modern, ideological pressures but... I believe it is a prime example of his metacommunicative competence. Anyone with commonsense will get irritated by all the hype and false statistics reported by every news media in the country, but the Earth is a gift to us from God and the Pope is simply reminding us of that. My first sentiments when I read that the Pope said "there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution", were of disappointment. To me, the more I read about evolution, the less creditable it becomes. I personally however, avoid discussions or arguments about evolution. Whether or not we evolved from monkeys is irrelevant; God made us. This is the only fact that matters and I believe the Pope was simply making that point. The very first thing I thought of when I read this headline "Listen to Earth", were Monkeys. Not the ones we evolved from though; I was thinking of the band the 'Monkees' and their song "Listen to the Band". I think I will write a parody of that song and call it "Listen to the Earth".
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Re:Listen to the Earth
Aug 01 2007 12:26:10 Hey...got it on CD. Actually, I used to. Now it's on the computer. I haven't taken a CD off the shelf in ages.
I guess the whole business if just kind of irritating. Not offensive or anything...just irritating. It's like a parent telling kids that there's nothing wrong with jumping off a bridge when their friends do it. |
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Re:Listen to the Earth
Aug 01 2007 04:24:03 Since God created the earth and all that is in it, I agree that we should not only treat God's creation reverently, but that since the earth, birds of the air, fish of the sea and all other creatures proceeded man, it makes sense to study such creatures, in particular prehistoric, to receive a glimpse of the stage when God formed man. I am sure the Pope is not saying that we must believe in the evolution of man from monkeys since that remains a hypothesis. However, as a product of Catholic highschool in the 60's, I can honestly say that I was taught by a nun who informed our class that the human embryo was impossible to distinguish from a fish until ? weeks of gestation. This thinking was not
 unique because years later my husband (a physician) and I were part of a group of medical doctors, all couples representing a different demonination, that discussed God and medicine and matters such as abortion, evolution etc. I will never forget when a Baptist Pediatrician said that he was taught in med school that the human embryo could not be distinghished from a fish!! (Exactly what I was taught!) Needless to say, neonatology has made great strides as well as our understanding of DNA. I don't think anyone can argue that the human embryo has only the DNA of a human father and a human mother!! There may be chromosomal abnormalities, (such as 2 X's and one Y...causing a male to need treatment) but the DNA is human!
Let's cut the Pope some slack. At least he's not mamby pamby like so my priests and is comfortable speaking the truth as he sees it.<br><br>Post edited by: Jan Nichols, at: 2007/08/01 23:53 |
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Re:Listen to the Earth
Jul 30 2007 20:22:53 But what would be the point?
The way he said it, he isn't offending anyone. The Church, does not have a stand on this subject other than' no matter what, God made everything. Why would he stir up a bunch of misconceptions about what the Church teaches by making some unnecessary remarks. BTW, the article doesn't say why the Pope was commenting on the environment and evolution. I think he was probably asked in which case he couldn't just keep his mouth shut. |
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Listen to the Earth
Jul 28 2007 09:20:48 This thread discusses the Content article: Listen to the Earth
I don't know what he was trying to say. I'm not sure why he said it. I think it's more of an embarrasment than anything else. He's the freakin pope. If he didn't know enough about science to say that the whole idea of moneys turning human was idiotic, he should have just kept quiet about it. |
#4 |
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